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Quarterman, John - *Matrix News*.Z
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Quarterman, John - *Matrix News*
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N-2-3-040.31.4
[*indicates italics*]
*Matrix News*
by John S. Quarterman*
<jsq@tic.com>
In the monthly newsletter, *Matrix News*, MIDS publishes contextual
information about cross-network issues. Networks frequently mentioned
include USENET, UUCP, FidoNet, BITNET, the Internet, and conferencing
systems such as the WELL and CompuServe. Matrix News is not about any
single one of them. It is about the Matrix, which is all computer
networks worldwide that exchange electronic mail.
*Matrix News*, frequently includes national networking articles, such
as ``Networking Plans in Haiti,'' by S. Jean-Baptiste and D. Pimienta
(August 1993) and ``The REDALC Methodology for Building National
Networks,'' by D. Pimienta (September).
News about politics and networking technology upgrades of major
carriers includes PSInet's T-3 ATM backbone (August), AlterNet's
10Mbps backbone (September), the new NSF NREN solicitation (August),
and CoREN's alliance with MCI (September).
Book reviews include Eric McKinney's review (August 1939) of *Internet
Connections*, by Mary E. Engle. Conference reports include ``Dateline
Telluride: Some Notes on Some Ideas on K-12 and the Internet,'' by E.
Theise (September), and ``Wiring the Classrooms: The Interop K-12
BOF,'' (October).
Network size and growth statistics appear often, as in ``Matrix Size
Estimates for Spring 1993: FidoNet, UUCP, BITNET, and the Internet,''
(August) ``USENET Growth,'' (September).
Maps of host populations and growth of networks have been a staple
of *Matrix News* for a year now, as in ``The Matrix in East
Asia: FidoNet, UUCP, BITNET, and the Internet,'' (August).
These maps are popular, but the cost of printing color limits the
number that can appear in the inexpensive monthly newsletter.
MIDS has launched a new publication, *Matrix Maps Quarterly* (MMQ),
which shows in maps features of networks that are difficult to present
with text or numbers alone. Color makes direct comparisons between
networks or sizes easy to see. We also include tables, graphs,
figures, and text as necessary, and often the underlying numbers.
The first issue of *Matrix Maps Quarterly* (MMQ) appeared in September
1993. It shows four major networks in color, from the whole world to
East Asia to Japan. It presents the geographical locations of their
hosts, their growth rates per country, and correlations of hosts per
population with per capita income. This issue also includes a table of
the sizes of the four networks (FidoNet, UUCP, BITNET, and the Internet),
and a Venn diagram illustrating their intersections. For the Internet,
we also show a map of four of its major services: anonymous FTP,
archie, Gopher, and WAIS.
*Matrix News* continues as before, and continues to publish color maps
from time to time. *Matrix Maps Quarterly* permits MIDS to publish
more maps and related information.
*Matrix News* (MN) is distributed on paper, by electronic mail, by
restricted FTP over the Internet, through ClariNet, and through a
conference on the WELL.
*Matrix Maps Quarterly* (MMQ) is distributed online through restricted
FTP over the Internet, by electronic mail to brave souls, and on paper.
Because of the graphical nature of MMQ, the online distribution is only
in PostScript; there is no ASCII distribution.
For further information about MN or MMQ, contact mids@tic.com.
* Matrix Information and Directory Services, Inc. (MIDS)